Abstract

Biography/History

Dr. Kenneth Richard Wright was a longtime professor of music theory and composition at the University of Kentucky and a violin and viola teacher to generations of students. He received a bachelor degree in economics from Hastings College, and a master and doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He played in the Kansas City Philharmonic from 1935 to 1938; the Rochester Philharmonic from 1939 to 1941; and the New Orleans Symphony in the summers of 1945 and 1947. Since September, 1949, he has been connected with the University of Kentucky. After retiring from UK in 1978, he taught at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Western Australia, and Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. He played in the Norfolk, VA. Symphony from 1979 to 1981 and 1984 to 1985. Wright died May 23, 2008.

User Restrictions

The intellectual rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections.

Related Material

86AV01, University of Kentucky School of Music collection, University of Kentucky Audio-Visual Archives, Special Collections.

1M82M9, John Jacob Niles papers, University of Kentucky Manuscripts, Special Collections.

2003ua051, Longyear papers, University of Kentucky Archives, Special Collections.

Collection Inventory

I. Scores, 1939-1978

Scope and Content Note:

The Scores series consists of the musical scores and operas composed and written by Wright. The first two boxes contain materials from his operas, Lost Eden and Wing of Expectation. Following these are scores arranged in alphabetical order by title.

Lost Eden Materials

[box: 1, folder: 1-6]

Lost Eden Opera Notes

[box: 1, folder: 7]

Lost Eden Synopsis

[box: 1, folder: 8]

Lost Eden Materials 2

[box: 1, folder: 9-10]

Lost Eden Libretto

[box: 1, folder: 11]

Lost Eden Score

[box: 1, folder: 12]

Lost Eden Score

[box: 2, folder: 1-5]

Wing of Expectation Correspondence and Program

[box: 2, folder: 6]

Love is Eternal Duet in G

[box: 3, folder: 1]

Wing of Expectation Conductor Scores, Act One

[box: 3, folder: 2]

Wing of Expectation Conductor Scores, Act Two

[box: 3, folder: 3]

Wing of Expectation Conductor Scores, Act Three

[box: 3, folder: 4]

Adoro te Devoto St. Thomas Aquinas

[box: 3, folder: 5]

Andante for Oboe and Strings, 1946

[box: 3, folder: 6]

Bardy

[box: 3, folder: 7]

Bardy

[box: 3, folder: 8]

Bardy

[box: 4, folder: 1]

Blue Tears, 1977

[box: 4, folder: 2]

Call it Square, 1954

[box: 4, folder: 3]

Call it Square, 1954

[box: 4, folder: 4]

Call it Square, Vocal/Piano Score , 1954

[box: 4, folder: 5]

Concerto Grosso

[box: 4, folder: 6]

Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra, 1952

[box: 4, folder: 7]

Four Encore Songs

[box: 4, folder: 8]

Festive Overture, 1966

[box: 5, folder: 1]

Four Encore Songs, 1944

[box: 5, folder: 2]

Hexagon Variations

[box: 5, folder: 3]

Jamey

[box: 5, folder: 4]

Mother Goose Suite, 1950

[box: 5, folder: 5]

My Old Kentucky Home, 1954-1967

[box: 5, folder: 6]

Opera Fanfares, 1978

[box: 5, folder: 7]

Pastorale and Dance, 1956

[box: 5, folder: 8]

Prelude, 1939

[box: 5, folder: 9]

Psalm 104

[box: 5, folder: 10]

Spring this Year, 1944-1947

[box: 5, folder: 11]

Veni Sancte Spiritu

[box: 5, folder: 12]

Veni Sancte Spiritu, Palestrina

[box: 5, folder: 13]

The Voices of Children

[box: 5, folder: 14]

II. Arrangements, 1950-2004

Scope and Content Note:

The Arrangements series contains a selection of musical arrangements by Wright. Many are arrangements of 20th Century or classical music, while others are original pieces by Wright. Many are undated and have been arranged in alphabetical order by title.

Adagio, Sonata Handel

[box: 6, folder: 1]

Andante Mendelssohn

[box: 6, folder: 2]

Ave Maria Schubert, 2004

[box: 6, folder: 3]

Ave Verum - Mozart

[box: 6, folder: 4]

Come Sweet Death Bach

[box: 6, folder: 5]

Die Meistersinger Wagner

[box: 6, folder: 6]

Fr Elise

[box: 6, folder: 7]

He shall Feed His Flock - Handel

[box: 6, folder: 8]

I Wonder as I Wander

[box: 6, folder: 9]

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring Bach

[box: 6, folder: 10]

Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head J.J. Niles, 1994

[box: 6, folder: 11]

Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow), 2004

[box: 6, folder: 12]

March Handel

[box: 6, folder: 13]

Meditation Thas

[box: 6, folder: 14]

O, Holy Night

[box: 6, folder: 15]

O Sacred Head Bach

[box: 6, folder: 16]

Od Yishama

[box: 6, folder: 17]

Sarabande Bach

[box: 6, folder: 18]

Schne Rosmarin Kriesler

[box: 6, folder: 19]

Wedding Song, 2004

[box: 6, folder: 20]

Wedding Waltzes

[box: 6, folder: 21]

Air Bach

[box: 7, folder: 1]

Etude and Romance Wieniawski

[box: 7, folder: 2]

Etude No 9 Mazas

[box: 7, folder: 3]

For the Fallen - Choral, 1950

[box: 7, folder: 4]

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming Brahms

[box: 7, folder: 5]

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming Brahms

[box: 7, folder: 6]

Lullaby

[box: 7, folder: 7]

The Man I Love Gershwin

[box: 7, folder: 8]

Reverie and Prelude #6 Debussy

[box: 7, folder: 9]

Silent Nite

[box: 7, folder: 10]

Story of the Bee J. J. Niles

[box: 7, folder: 11]

Suite for the Band

[box: 7, folder: 12]

Suite, Piano for Hands

[box: 7, folder: 13]

To Jesus on His Birthday, 1969

[box: 7, folder: 14]

Unknown - Brahms

[box: 7, folder: 15]

Violin Works

[box: 7, folder: 16]

III. Other Materials

Scope and Content Note:

The Other Materials series is a collection of documents that are either nonmusical works by Wright or works by his students or musical predecessors. There is a student dissertation, a musical theory composition by Paul Hindesmith. It also contains an obituary, a book of Gregorian chants and works by two Italian composers of liturgical music, a letter from The Instrumentalist, and a pedagogy for violin by Wright. The final folder has various compositions of music or writing with little or no identification, as well as the original inventory list of this collection.

Fragments of Bach's Sarabande

[box: 8, folder: 1]

Mary Hansard Dissertation

[box: 8, folder: 2]

Hindesmith Craft Book, Vol. 3

[box: 8, folder: 3]

Gordon Kinney Obituary, 1981

[box: 8, folder: 4]

Examples of Gregorian chant and works by Orlando Lassus and Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina, 1937

[box: 8, folder: 5]

The Instrumentalist letter

[box: 8, folder: 6]

Violin Pedagogy

[box: 8, folder: 7]

Miscellaneous Papers

[box: 8, folder: 8]

IV. Recordings

Scope and Content Note:

The Recordings series consists of reel to reel recordings and a cassette of Wright's performances. Also included are two copies of a mass produced record album.